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The Government today said that gold imports have increased in recent years and stood at $42 billion during April-January period of the current fiscal.
During 2011-12, the imports had touched $56.3 billion, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
“India’s gold imports have increased in recent years reflecting the increasing size of domestic gold market,” Meena said.
Gold imports in 2010-11 were pegged at $40.5 billion, while in 2009-10 the imports amounted to $28.6 billion.
According to a report of the Reserve Bank of India working group, gold is imported in India mainly through designated banks and MMTC.
During 2011-12, gold imports through designated banks were estimated to be 603 tonnes or 56 per cent of the total imports.
In a separate reply, Meena said India’s total external debt at the end of September is estimated at $365 billion.
High gold imports are putting pressure on the country’s Current Account Deficit (CAD), which touched a peak of 5.4 per cent of the GDP in the July-September quarter.
The Government has taken a number of steps to check the import of the precious metal by hiking duty and also linking the gold deposit schemes of banks with exchange traded funds of mutual funds.
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